Deal Toys - What are they?

Deal toys (also known as financial tombstones) are customized gifts that are used to commemorate the closing of a major business deal in financing, investment banking, or real estate. Deal toys are often custom designed to capture a unique aspect of the transaction, then presented to all the major parties of the transaction in recognition of their efforts and contributions. Deal toys are typically produced in the lead up to a major corporate deal and are often presented at a special ceremony when the deal closes.

As coveted status symbols, today’s best deal toys are made of crystal or wood. Lucite deal toys have fallen out of favor as more people are avoiding plastics. Any deal toys that you present become a symbol of your company and how you do business, so quality and craftsmanship are more important than ever. In the world of finance and investment banking, it is a point of honor to receive a deal toy! Many financiers and investment bankers proudly display their deal toys in high profile spaces within their offices, generating extra value from their deal toys as visual marketing tools for potential new clients and partners. A big assortment of eye-catching deal toys means they’ve participated in a lot of big financial transactions, they are experienced, team players, and they’ve earned the hardware to prove it!

If you're responsible for ordering your company's deal toys, consider the moment when they will be presented to each recipient. It’s a moment to celebrate your accomplishments, and you want to feel proud, confidently handing out the best deal toys that you know are impressive and well-made with great design.

So to help ensure that you’re the office hero when your order of deal toys is delivered, we assembled these tips.

How to Order the Best Custom Deal Toys Online

STEP 1:

Aim to start planning about 4-6 weeks before you want to present your deal toys. Determine how many you’ll need to recognize your team, when you’d like them delivered by (ideally a few days before your event), the details you’d like to highlight on your deal toys, and an approximate budget (typically between $100-$200 per piece). Consider the materials you’d like to use: high quality crystal and eco-friendly wood deal toys are always popular and well-received. Lucite and acrylic are also common materials, though more people are trying to avoid plastics these days. You don’t need all of these details finalized to place an order, but the more you can organize early, the easier it will be.

STEP 2:

Select a reliable and established deal toy supplier as your partner. Search for a company with in-house production capability that is responsive, easy to work with, experienced, and design-savvy. You’ll want graphic design services and artwork proofs to be provided as well. Read their client testimonials. Reach out to potential suppliers and see how they respond, you can learn a lot from your first interaction! Some suppliers provide extensive customization, which can also require an extensive design process; while some suppliers like Eclipse Awards, work with a curated set of popular deal toy styles that can be customized through creative graphic design and markings to streamline the process..

STEP 3:

Connect with your chosen supplier and let them know what you’d like to accomplish. Share the details you gathered in step #1. Typically, your customer service representative will confirm the details of your order and gather any remaining details or files. Once everything is organized, your order will go into a design stage that incorporates everything you’ve provided. Design can take anywhere from 1-3 days, then you should receive an artwork proof of the proposed design for your deal toys.

STEP 4:

Review your artwork proof closely, this is very important. Make sure that all logos are correct, along with punctuation, grammar, and any figures or dates that are listed. If possible, have a second set of eyes review the proofs. If something is missing or incorrect, now is the time to address it! If changes are required, request a new artwork proof. Once the design is perfect, send back your approval to ensure everyone is on the same page. Once you’ve approved your proofs, production begins and design changes are no longer possible.

STEP 5:

While your order is in production there’s not much you can do, so this is a good time to plan for your event and how you will present your deal toys. Eclipse Awards will send you an email notification once your deal toys have been completed and shipped. Use your tracking number to follow the progress of your shipment.

STEP 6:

Check your order upon arrival to ensure sure that all pieces are in good condition and accounted for. If there are any issues, report them to us immediately to that we can address them. If everything looks good, then prepare to enjoy presenting your deal toys with confidence!

What to include on Deal Toys

Deal toy designs vary by the type and details of the transaction. Typically these include:

Type and size of the transaction
Date of the transaction
Names and corporate logos of key financiers and participants

These elements are then laid out onto the deal toy style that you’ve selected.

When to present Deal Toys:

Consider presenting custom deal toys whenever you want to celebrate a special milestone or transaction. It doesn’t matter if you order 2 or 200, the key is to take time to recognize successes and to appreciate the people that contribute to your success. Deal toys and financial tombstones are often used to mark the following occasions:

New Stock Issues
IPO’s
New Partnership Announcements
Celebrating Mergers & Acquisitions
Real Estate Transactions
Attaining Fundraising Goals
Prominent or Groundbreaking Legal Settlements

Customized deal toys can help you celebrate any important milestone for your company.

HOW MUCH DO DEAL TOYS COST?

Deal toys cost anywhere between $75 to $250 or more, with most companies spending $125 each on average. The average order size is 15-20 pieces, though this can grow for larger deals.

At Eclipse Awards, all of our deal gifts are offered at fixed, all-in prices, which include design, branding, artwork proofs and personalization. There are no setup charges or hidden fees, and only shipping is extra. Order with confidence, knowing the price you see is the price you pay.

Pro tip! Order prefab deal toys when you want to save time and money. Since most of the work has already been done, all we have to do is simply design your custom artwork and then engrave it to create awesome personalized deal toys for you, on time and on budget, every time.

Custom Deal Toys by Eclipse Awards - What Sets Us Apart?

As an established boutique awards manufacturer and custom trophy shop, Eclipse Awards has over 20 years of in-house experience creating highly coveted, personalized gifts….which also makes us a great deal toy supplier! We deliver value by curating a collection of timeless and popular award styles that we turn into bespoke deal toys through creative graphic design and markings. This way, more of your money goes into quality and craftsmanship to create impressive deal toys, and less into pursuing odd designs and materials to create novelty deal toys. The result is an efficient, streamlined, and cost effective approach to producing awesome investment banking deal toys every time!

Eclipse Awards can customize any of the awards and trophies you see here as deal toys. Or click through to our sister site Financial Tombstones & Deal Toys by Eclipse Awards to view some of our most popular styles of custom deal toys!

If you’re looking for impressive deal toys that can be delivered reliably and cost-effectively under tight timelines, give Eclipse Awards a call and we’ll make you the office hero!

To learn even more about investment banking deal toys visit Wikipedia.